The Abbé Pierre memory centre celebrates its 10th birthday!

In the house in Normandy, France, where Abbé Pierre lived out his final years, a museum has been open to the public since 22^nd January 2012. Many exhibitions have been held there, but his room and the chapel have been kept in their original state.

Each year, a commemorative march starts off from the Emmaus Abbé Pierre Centre and ends at Esteville cemetery. Abbé Pierre is buried in his adopted town, along with Lucie Coutaz, co-founder of Emmaus, Georges Legay, the first companion, and more than 80 other companions. The keys of the houses built by the Emmaus movement over the past year are then placed on Abbé Pierre’s grave.

This year, we are commemorating the 15^th anniversary of Abbé Pierre’s death, following these traditions. However, 22^nd January this year also marks a new beginning for this place, as the first stone of the Emmaus Abbé Pierre Centre social housing block will be laid down. The centre is growing, with the construction of a new living area called the “guest house” composed of 20 studios which can accommodate individuals or couples who are turning their lives around after experiencing social exclusion or isolation, with on-site social support. The first residents will arrive in January 2023.

This day will also represent the continuation of Abbé Pierre’s commitments, with the presentation of the first Global Report on our fight against poverty. This will be broadcast live on the Esteville Abbé Pierre Centre Facebook page from 7pm, and you are all invited to participate, whether in person or online!

For more information, please visit Abbé Pierre Centre website

Programme (in French)

France News Tackling Poverty / Solidarity

Emmaus Helsinki: a cooperative to support Roma migrants

Emmaus Helsinki has for many years worked on finding a way to support the Roma migrants so that they could secure regular work and a decent income, and in this way fully participate in the world of work, and enjoy equal rights and responsibilities.

The Roma migrants from Romania and Bulgaria are one of the most vulnerable groups in Helsinki. They come to Finland to earn money for their children, who stay behind with relatives in extremely poor living conditions. In Finland, Roma migrants usually earn a meagre income from street work: begging, collecting bottles, or selling the street magazine Iso Numero (Big Issue in English). It is rare that somebody finds work in the Finnish labour market. In view of this situation, it was very important for us to find a way of helping them to actively participate in society.

In 2017, we founded a cooperative called Work and Hope, which is a labour pool for migrant Roma, mostly women. They sign a work contract with the cooperative, and the cooperative coordinates their work assignments at the premises of private clients or organisations. Most of the work is cleaning work, but it may also include gardening, helping with house moves, etc. It goes without saying that the cooperative complies with all labour law requirements and the collective agreement between the trade union and the employers’ association.

There have been many ups and downs on this journey. There are prejudices to overcome on the potential clients’ side. Also cultural differences, a lack of formal education and understanding of Finnish society create difficulties. Our employees have had a very hard life, they are often traumatised, and have experienced discrimination. They have little faith in people or authorities. That said, we have achieved a lot over the past four-and-a-half years. Altogether, about 40 people have had work assignments. Currently, we have seven people working for us. Five of them earn enough to have a normal life and can also support their families back home. A big achievement is that all of our current employees have Finnish health insurance cards, which gives them more security. They have also become much more fearless and aware of their rights, and ready to stand up for them.

Defending human rights / Migration Finland News

Emmaus in Sweden

A discussion with Charlotte Wester, national delegate for Sweden on the board of Emmaus Europe.

Can you tell us about how Emmaus began in Sweden?

It all started when a few people from Sweden heard about Abbé Pierre’s work and travelled to France to work alongside him for a time. Following his example they formed the first Emmaus group in Lund, situated in the southern part of Sweden, in 1959.

But compared to other countries the first groups in Sweden focused more on giving hope to young adults by sending volunteers to India and South America.

Almost 50 years later, a joint initiative of some groups and individuals within the Emmaus movement, such as Birgitta Göranson Iliste (from Swallows India Bangladesh) and Christer Johansson (chair of Emmaus Sweden), decided to gather the Swedish groups that shared the same ideas under one umbrella. In 2008, Emmaus Sweden was created and was made up of 10 Swedish organisations, all working in the Emmaus spirit.

Before 2008 some of the Swedish member groups of Emmaus International had lost their connection and were less involved in the international movement. The reasons behind this varied and were at times ideological, at others more practical. Emmaus in Sweden wanted to be a network and serve as a bridge for our movement, no matter if our partner groups were members of Emmaus International or not. Today, four of the nine Swedish groups are full members of the international movement and two are trial members. But we are now trying to reconnect by collaborating with the Finnish as part of a study circle on the founding texts of Emmaus International, working alongside our neighbour, the President of Emmaus Europe!

What activities are led by Emmaus in Sweden?

Emmaus in Sweden is one of the largest stakeholders in the entire movement for the collection of second-hand clothes and goods. In 2020, for example, we collected 6,000 tonnes of clothes. In total, around 180 stakeholders are involved in Emmaus Sweden.

The Swedish groups * used to co-organise an annual solidarity sale for the benefit of Emmaus International. It was an opportunity for us to raise awareness about our international struggles and to support solidarity amongst the Emmaus groups all across the globe. However, in recent years and especially since the pandemic, it has been difficult for us to co-organise any such events. Each of the groups have been arranging their own solidarity sales. The good thing is that we have been able to continue with these solidarity initiatives.

The groups in Sweden unite to defend values of the movement. For example, we have joined forces to shed light on the occupations in Western Sahara (by Morocco) and Palestine (by Israel). We have mainly led lobbying initiatives on this topic: writing articles/books and organising campaigns in our shops. We have also worked together on the issues of migration and fast fashion.

What are the challenges facing the groups in Sweden?

One challenge for the Swedish Emmaus groups is the impact of more competition not just from other non-profit organisations but also from private companies profiting from second hand. For some groups, the need to put much more effort into the collecting of clothes and goods, for example with visual merchandising and marketing, has been challenging sometimes. One important role of Emmaus in Sweden is to provide a platform to share as much knowledge as possible, to unite our forces and to be more efficient together.

Another challenge worth mentioning: how can we, as Emmaus groups in Sweden, strengthen our work on reuse? Today, overconsumption is threatening the future of our planet. As a movement, our ambition is to propose another model for consumption, based on reuse and repair, while supporting solidarity initiatives to help the most vulnerable. As stakeholders in the sustainability sector we need to contribute by sharing our knowledge and influencing debates, notably highlighting the advantages of slow fashion.

How have things been going since the health crisis and how did you adapt to the situation?

All the groups suffered due to the pandemic and had their own way of coping. Many of the groups have focused on adapting their shops and how they are organised, in accordance with the restrictions. Emmaus Sweden has monitored the situation and reached out to the groups, offering them support.

According to Birgitta Göranson Iliste, board member of Swallows India Bangladesh, her group has been successful in adapting their very programme-based work. Employees have mainly worked from home, leading to an evolution of the ways of meeting. Travel as part of their internship programme has been put on hold and the exchanges were conducted online via virtual study visits and digital exercises. Most of their work has been able to continue in some forms.

An important part of this adaptation process has been the support provided by the Swedish government (and also, in some cases, other structures). Since the pandemic struck, it has been possible to postpone tax payments and to get furlough funds from the state, which has made a big difference.

News Sweden

Emmaus Iasi: an ingenious way of reusing old desks

Within Emmaus we’re great at adapting objects and reusing them in all kinds of innovative ways. Another great idea has recently emerged within the movement: a Romanian group has made two bedrooms in a hangar out of old desks!

A few months ago a company donated a large number of desks to Emmaus Iasi. Rather than selling them the group decided to reuse these desks in order to create two bedrooms for two of our companions. Dan, a joiner, has been coordinating this project. The legs of the desks were welded together to create the frame for the bedrooms whilst the tables of the desks were then added to create the bases for the walls.

This work will help to improve the level of comfort at the Belvedere. This agroecology project has evolved over the years. When the land was bought in 2003 the objective here was to produce food for the community and for the animals but the site now also has a social aspect, a commercial dimension and a more educational focus. The project includes an educational farm which is open to students/pupils as well as families.

The renovation continues at the site, led by Florin (co-leader of the group) and his team. Work on the electrics is moving forward and the shop is now starting to take shape. Viorel and Costel, the two companions who are going to live here, will soon be nicely settled in!

Circular economy / The environment News Romania